A Lone Flower's Tale
by Suzumiya Konata
Summary: Miki Saitou is content with her position as ninth seat of the Thirteenth squad. When she is offered a promotion to vice-captain, she is faced with a dilemma and does not feel ready to take the late Kaien Shiba's place. Meanwhile, there is an unknown foe, seemingly an Arrancar, prowling the streets of Seireitei, targeting Central 46. Who is he, and what is his aim?


**Kona-chan: I do not own Bleach, cause if I did, we wouldn't be in this sh-**

**Ichigo: HEY!**

**Kona-chan: The current strange and unpleasant story arc.**

**Ichigo: That's more like it.**

**This is set before the events of Bleach. And I do own Miki Saitou (that's the only thing I own)  
**

**'This' is Miki's thoughts.**

**_This __is Murasaki-hime (zanpakuto) talking to Miki._  
**

**_"This" is regular speech._**

"Saitou-chan!" Kiyone exclaimed when she saw Miki walking by.

Saitou Miki was startled. Her petite form stopped her rapid march when the fellow shinigami called out. Her black, waist-length hair stopped its regular swaying motions and she turned to face Kiyone, purple eyes open wide.

Kiyone was a very energetic third-seat, especially when talking about their squad's captain. She always argued with Sentarou, with who she shared the position.

Miki's position was ninth-seated officer of the 13th squad. Though proud of the rank, she found no reason why the squad's third seat, highest ranked officer after the captain, knew her name. The squad, because of a past incident, was left without vice-captain. Miki had heard about it, but wasn't present at the time. Rukia was apparently deeply implicated within the incident.

"Yes?" she answered. She was currently carrying paperwork to the squad's general office.

"Ukitake-taichou wants to see you!"

'What?' she thought. 'Why does the captain want to see me?'

_Heh, you're in trouble_, the cynical Murasaki-hime laughed.

'It's no laughing matter, idiot!'

Miki's zanpakutou had a tendency to mock Miki at the strangest times. She voiced her opinion without restraint, which sometimes annoyed the young shinigami. It was very hard to ignore Murasaki-hime's taunts. The zanpakutou, knowing her owner very well, knew exactly where to prod to get on her nerves.

"Understood," she replied, hiding her curiosity and worry from the bubbly third-seat.

The squad's captain, Ukitake Juushirou, was a gentle and wise man. He rarely summoned members to his office to scold them. Despite knowing this fact, Miki remained worried.

She decided to write the short report of the Hollow extermination she had just come back from and drop it at the general office before going to her captain's office.

"Ninth seated officer Saitou Miki," she said upon arriving at the door.

"Come in," the captain answered. Miki couldn't detect anger in Ukitake's voice.

'You can't get fired from the Gotei 13, right?' she thought dryly.

Ukitake was seated on his desk, busied with paperwork.

"Kiyone was fast to find you," he said as he looked up.

Miki recalled the past eight months spent as a ninth seat. She never screwed up anything big.

_Why do you assume you're getting fired?_ Murasaki-hime sighed. _You really are an idiot. Don't you understand?_

'What is there to understand?' Miki growled back. She wasn't in the mood for her zanpakutou's riddles. Her position was at stake. 'Just keep quiet!'

The paper doors behind her slid and the two third-seated officers, Kotetsu Kiyone and Kotsubaki Sentarou came in.

Miki kept calm, but she was puzzled inside.

'Is this some sort of ceremony? What in the world are the third seats doing here? This is definitely a firing ceremony. Soon they'll sing a farewell song and tell me to pack–'

"Saitou Miki, I hereby proclaim you vice-captain of the Thirteenth Division of the Gotei 13."

To say that Miki was surprised would be an understatement. She was in a state of daze, unable to speak.

Now she understood her zanpakutou's words.

'Wait, I'm a ninth seated officer. From ninth seat to vice-captain? This can't be.'

But the news was true. That was the reason why Kiyone was so excited when she had come to see her.

Sentarou took the vice-captains' armband and held out his hand.

"You accept the promotion, right?" he said with a big grin.

Miki's eyes darted to the floorboards and she stared distantly. The two officers were perplexed. Why had she averted her gaze?

_Only a promotion can crack that indifferent mask of yours, huh?_

'No… I…'

"Captain," she began, now directing her piercing gaze to Ukitake. "I don't know if I can accept this promotion."

Sentarou's goofy grin disappeared. Silence befell the room like a heavy weight. To Miki's surprise, Ukitake gently smiled.

"I understand. If you're not sure, you should think about it."

Miki suddenly felt uncertain of what to do. Feign a joke and accept to be promoted or leave? She had no idea why she was offered the position. Afraid not to meet the vice-captain standards in the Gotei 13, she had declined. But wasn't that just her stubborn selfishness? The division didn't have a vice-captain since the previous one, Shiba Kaien, had been killed. Killed after being taken over by a Hollow, to a point of no return. Killed by whom? Miki's close friend, Rukia Kuchiki.

At that thought, Miki looked down once more. Such a visible display of emotions was very unusual and showed her disarray.

"I'm sure there are many other candidates who are more suited for the position than me," she said in a low voice. "My apologies."

"It's alright. You're dismissed."

The two third-seated officers stared in awe as Miki left the room quickly. Her reiatsu quickly got farther and farther.

"Captain… Saitou reminds me of Kaien," Kiyone suddenly said.

"Didn't he also refuse the position at first?" Sentarou added.

Ukitake smiled nostalgically. "Don't you think she's fitted for the rank? I'll let her think about it and follow her own convictions."

_You have no deadline. You could just put it off and never talk about it again._

'I'm not doing that.'

Miki was troubled by the sudden news. She was quickly making her way through the 13th division's headquarters, with no particular place to go.

'I can't become the vice-captain of this division.'

After a while of aimlessly walking through the offices, she broke into a sprint in a seemingly deserted hall. That impulsive decision lead her to crashing into Kuchiki Rukia and sending the fellow shinigami tumbling with a hard 'thud'. Miki turned around, startled by the impact and saw Rukia sitting on the floor with a dumbfounded look.

"Kuchiki! Sorry!"

"Saitou?" said Rukia, still rubbing her head. "What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry? Furthermore, what in the world is that attire? You look like a battlefield's lone survivor searching for salvation of some sort. What happened?"

Despite having been surprised by a hard collision, Rukia still spoke in a dignified manner, as a member of the Kuchiki house.

"I was just, uh, looking for you…"

'What about my attire?' she thought before looking at herself. She was wearing her sword on her hilt and her usually neat hair was ruffled like a child's. Her reiatsu was still fluctuating.

"Oops, sorry…" the young girl said. "I just came back from the mission in Kusajishi, sector nine. That place was filled with 'em."

"I see," Rukia answered while getting up. Miki was thankful Rukia hadn't seen her leaving the captain's office. She simultaneously realized that she had gone to meet her captain looking like she did.

"What about you, Kuchiki?" she asked to change the subject.

Rukia's expression turned grave. "I, along with several officers, was sent to investigate strange happenings near the Central 46 Compound."

"Like what?"

"I'll tell you while we return to the barracks."

Miki inwardly flinched. She wasn't planning on returning there just yet. Even though she knew her captain wouldn't insist on the promotion matter, she felt uneasy returning already.

"'Kay," she answered and turned back. It must have been an important matter if Rukia found the need to explain thoroughly.

Rukia followed suit and began her explanation. "A few days ago, an entire patrol unit consisting of ten seated officers of the ninth squad was wiped out near the Central 46 chambers. They were found there with multiple battle wounds that were not inflicted by a zanpakutou or a normal Hollow. After their treatment was complete and they awoke, not one of them remembered what had done them in. They had sensed presences there and went to see, but they couldn't recall what happened after.

"Normally, they're forbidden to go there, so it must have been a presence that couldn't be ignored. Furthermore, the gesture was most likely made to protect the Central 46. For a dangerous and unseen foe to hang around there, they must have been targeting Central 46. And so I was sent to investigate the area, but…"

"Nothing came up?"

"Yes, unfortunately. I had to hand in a copy of my report to the ninth squad's office and I was heading towards our squad."

Miki nodded. The information was still fresh in her head.

'What kind of idiots would target Central 46? Sure, they have power, but it's not a position that you can inherit. You'd have no merit in killing them…'

_Except for a vendetta._

'Yeah, you're right. But whoever has a grudge against Central 46 has already been condemned, and is now imprisoned, or–'

_Executed?_

'Don't be an idiot. A Hollow can't wipe out a unit of ten seated officers.'

Murasaki-hime's silence was unsettling.

"Saitou?" Rukia's voice brought her back to reality. "We're here. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Y-Yeah… I was just thinking about what you just told me. Yeah, don't worry about it, I'm sure it's nothing. And if it _is _something, it'll get solved soon."

'A general order will probably be issued to protect the Central 46 as soon as possible. Like, today. Those inconsiderate fools have falsely judged so many people… It's unbelievable how protected they are.'

"I hope so. I'll just present my report to Ukitake-taichou. Are you coming?"

"N-no!" she exclaimed. Rukia raised an eyebrow. "I'll drop by my room. Go on ahead, I have stuff to do."

Rukia nodded and left for the larger part of the headquarters. Miki stood in the empty hall, looking at her friend entering their captain's office. She knew she had to give Ukitake an answer. She couldn't keep running away from the conflict.

But…

It was dark in the streets of Seireitei. The moon's mysterious glare shone on the many bustling shinigami who were on their break. Miki roamed aimlessly near the shops and restaurants. She was lost in her thoughts and wished all the dilemmas she was confronted to could disappear in thin air. Suddenly, the young shinigami bumped into something, or rather somebody. She narrowed her purple eyes and threateningly glared at the staring drunkard from the eleventh squad. She didn't want to attract attention and so she held back the urge to beat up the man.

'Get lost.'

"Whatcha starin' at, little girl? HUH?"

Miki's hands balled up into fists. A glint of anger escaped her eyes. "Now you're getting it."

Ready to beat the man into a bloody pulp, she advanced when two arms suddenly caught her from behind.

"Let go!" she shouted before recognizing Matsumoto Rangiku. Hinamori Momo was standing at her side with an apologetic look on her face. "Matsumoto-san…"

Rangiku let go of Miki and advanced toward the drunken man. "Hey, don't cause trouble to others, especially not for Miki-chan! I'll get angry if you do! And who knows what I'll do when I'm angry. I might," she paused and grabbed the man by the mustache, then delivered a blow on his nose with her elbow. "…do this!"

"Matsumoto-san…" Momo sighed as the orange haired shinigami grinned. The drunkard was knocked out cold.

"So, what're ya doing here all alone?" Rangiku asked Miki.

She didn't know the answer to that herself. She had lied to Rukia and told her that she had things to do, but she had the rest of the day off. She had been wandering in Seireitei until nightfall, just thinking about what to do. And all the thinking had amounted to nothing.

"Nothing…" Miki answered.

Momo looked worried. "You look troubled..."

Rangiku grabbed Miki's arm and before the latter could answer, she was dragged inside a nearby restaurant.

"I– What are you doing, Matsu–"

"Just forget about your worries and have fun. Sometimes, the fog clears up this way. I'm sure you'll figure it all out," Rangiku said as she grabbed a plate from the rotating counter.

Momo nodded encouragingly. "If there's anything I can do, I'll gladly help."

'How did they know? I haven't told anybody about the news. Gotta straighten up.'

"What worries?" Miki said nonchalantly. "I was just hanging around, that's all."

Momo and Rangiku seemed relieved upon seeing their friend looking like usual again.

Miki was far from usual, however. She didn't know why, but she wouldn't even think about talking about her worries when asked.

'I'm not running away.'

Just as she was about to take a plate of sushi from the counter, a loud siren was heard.

'An emergency?'

Hell Butterflies swarmed in every corner of the Seireitei, delivering the same message to the bewildered shinigami.

"All officers report to their respective squads immediately. There is an emergency."

Ukitake delivered the orders fast, Miki noticed. The shinigami were told to take their weapons and search for an unknown enemy around all Seireitei.

'The groups are gonna be small…'

"It is unclear who the enemy we're dealing with is, and so we are to proceed as follows," the white-haired captain spoke. "Each seated officer will be dispatched along with four unseated officers. The groups are as follows."

Miki's group was the last to be called out.

"Saitou, you will lead the last group consisting of Moritaka, Souen, Iwasaki and Izumi. Remember that this is different from training. If you find the enemy, immediately relay its location through Hell Butterflies."

The young shinigami nodded and left with her group. It was strange, seeing her captain after the same morning's events.

'It's a shame Kuchiki isn't in my group…'

The word _leader_ sounded weird in her head. Leading a small group, it was just like leading a division, wasn't it?

"Ahem," Izumi spoke after a minute or so of constant running. "Where exactly are we searching?"

'Izumi Ohana… She's so uptight, this one.'

Miki stopped as her team did. She looked around and realized they were lost.

_Tell 'em already. You're lost._

'I can't say that! A leader has to look confident at all times. If the leader's despairing, what will the others think of the situation?'

"Actually, uh…"

'Right!'

"We're going to the Seijoutoukyorin."

Souen looked angry. "We cannot enter the–"

"This is an order. Follow me."

Miki reflected the young man's anger. She knew what she was talking about. The mysterious enemy was seen near there, so it should be near the Central 46, if that was really its goal.

She jumped on a nearby building's roof and located the domed edifice.

"Over here!" she interrupted her teammates' conversation, "Full speed!"

The five-man team flash-stepped to the structure. The gates were sealed, as usual, but something was off. Miki felt a strange presence. It wasn't a shinigami or a human. It had spiritual pressure, but it had… no soul?

"Watch out, something's coming."

"Eh? Here? But… I knew we shouldn't have come!" Izumi began, flustered. She dropped the use of respectful speech and panicked.

"Calm down! The enemy will cut us down for sure if you act like that!" Miki shouted while keeping her concentration on the unseen force's presence. She felt the younger girl's worry, however. The presence was getting stronger, it was approaching.

Moritaka, the eldest of the group, spoke up. "We have to tell the others."

"No. If we bring more forces, the enemy will retreat, and we might not find him until he strikes again."

"Again?" Iwasaki asked. He sounded like he was going to cry. Miki refrained from answering, the presence was going to show its form.

The spiritual pressure rose in proportions, crushing the air. There it was.

A pale-skinned man with blue hair wearing a white robe and trousers was slowly making his way towards Miki and her team. The four unseated officers were immobilized by his presence.

"Don't let him get past us," the young girl whispered.

'Maybe this is a bad idea. These four can't handle this guy's presence let alone fight him… I'll have to do it alone.'

"Change of plans. Run," she finally decided. The man had a Hollow's mask covering the left half of his face. This was definitely not a normal foe.

"We– we cannot…"

"That's an order. Run! Go and… go warn the others!" she said, giving them a reason to retreat.

The four reluctantly left for the other direction while the mysterious man approached along with his intimidating spiritual pressure.

_We might lose this battle._

'I know, but what else do you want me to do?'

The man halted his arrogant march when he was a few meters away from Miki.

"Who are you?"

He raised his arms in a grandiose manner and spoke in a deep voice seemingly emanating from the ground.

"I am Ark."

**Cliffhanger! I hope you enjoyed!**

**By the way, there won't be any pairings in this story.**

**Please review! You deserve smoked cheese!**


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